“A lot of sexual references. Masturbation. A lot of sexual comments; biting of the lips; licking of the lips.”
— Rachel Martinez, a 17-year-old working at a franchise sandwich shop in Aurora, about the behavior (along with physical assault) she experienced on the job[1][2]

Many workers in Colorado like Rachel encounter sexual harassment on the job, but can’t seek justice because of insufficient remedies available under state law. The same goes for workers facing illegal discrimination or harassment based on age, race, sexual orientation or other factors.

This is despite the fact that Colorado was one of the first states, in the 1950s, to establish a civil rights agency to take a stand against workplace discrimination. Colorado protects more workers from discrimination than federal law does. It’s been one of our state’s core values for more than half a century — no matter the size of your employer, decisions about your employment should be based on the quality of your work, your skills and effort, not on your gender, race or other characteristics that have nothing to do with your job.

Today, however, Colorado has fallen woefully behind. We’re one of just eight states that haven’t updated our laws to give victims of illegal discrimination the right to seek justice and be made whole for their damages. House Bill 1136, which is awaiting Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature, would solve this problem by modernizing our state law.

HB 1136 will protect Colorado workers and jobs. In this tough economy, no one can afford to lose a job because of illegal discrimination or harassment.

That’s why HB 1136 is supported by a broad coalition of more than 40 community, faith, business, labor and legal organizations. Supporters, in addition to the signers of this op-ed, include the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Non-profit Association, 9to5, Colorado Business Women, Colorado Council of Churches, the Colorado Latino Forum, the Colorado Senior Lobby, the NAACP State Conference, One Colorado, the ARC of Colorado, and the Colorado GLBT and Women’s Bar Associations.

Opponents of HB 1136 cry that the sky will fall, that small businesses will be put out of business if the law passes. But all of the evidence says otherwise.

Forty-two other states have already modernized their laws, and they haven’t seen increased legal caseloads, costs to employers or job loss. In fact, when federal law adopted these same changes in 1991, there was a 20.7 percent rate of job growth between 1993 and 2001.

And although many of the states that have updated their laws allow discriminated-against employees to seek unlimited financial damages, Colorado’s HB 1136 includes modest caps on the damages that workers can seek, as well as a number of other protections for small businesses.

HB 1136 will hold bad employers accountable while leveling the playing field for the majority of Colorado employers who treat their workers fairly.

Gov. Hickenlooper, please sign HB 1136 for Rachel and all Coloradans like her who’ve faced illegal workplace discrimination but until now haven’t had equal access to justice under the law.

Donna Evans is president and CEO of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Leadership Foundation. Tim Gaudette is chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.